As soon as the putt dropped, so did the jaws.
And the fist started pumping.
Ever so slowly, Seve Ballesteros turned to the crowd and the Spaniard kept pumping his fist, relishing the moment for himself and the fans.
It was unbridled joy, the way Ballesteros embraced that 15-foot birdie putt that enabled him to win the 1984 British Open at St. Andrews. It was the defining moment of a World Golf Hall of Fame career.
Ballesteros, 54, passed away Saturday morning after a three-year battle with brain cancer.
"What I'll always remember about Seve," Stewart Cink said, "was the way he thrust his fist into the air and then turned to the crowd in just about every direction and did it again and again."
Hall of Famer Ben Crenshaw, who studies golf history the way he would a 20-foot, sidehill putt, was more succinct: "When he won at St. Andrews, that's one of the greatest reactions in the history of the game," he said.
Ballesteros wouldn't argue, calling it "the greatest moment of my career." The sight of him standing there, with his fist thrust high in the air, became his business logo and he even tattooed it on his left forearm. But it also serves as a haunting reminder of how quickly things can change in life.
At 27, Ballesteros had just won his fourth major title and his career arc seemed headed for true greatness. But this ultimately proved to be the pinnacle of a life that soon was derailed by injuries and other major maladies.
Ballesteros would eventually win five major championships -- three Opens and two Masters -- and 91 titles worldwide as he was the most influential European player of his generation (he won a record 50 times on the European Tour). He played on eight Ryder Cup teams and captained the 1997 European side to victory, but there was always a sad feeling there was so much more he could have accomplished if he stayed healthy.
In his prime, Ballesteros boldly played the part of a matador in cleats, a man whose emotion poured out his body like cedar out of a tree. He could be wild off the tee, often having to play his second shots out of "car parking" lots, but that only added to his legacy.
"I think Seve had a great attitude," Arnold Palmer said. "He was a flamboyant, high-flying guy that got to the job. And winning the tournaments he won, he did it with style."
Ballesteros almost single-handedly made the Ryder Cup relevant. When he played in his first Ryder Cup for Europe in 1979, the Americans had won the last 10 matches and 16 of the last 17. Within four years, with Ballesteros leading the way, the Europeans closed the gap and eventually won five of the last seven matches with Ballesteros involved.
"His record, his charisma, his passion -- he's been great for the game," said Jack Nicklaus, whose Memorial Tournament honored Ballesteros this year. "His spirit was the European Ryder Cup team."
Part of Ballesteros' imagination came from the way he learned the sport, hitting pebbles on the beach with a wood-shafted 3-iron near his home in Pedrena, Spain. He turned pro in 1974, two years later was runner-up in the British Open and was playing in the Ryder Cup by the time he was 22.
Partly because he was so passionate about playing for Europe in the Ryder Cup, Ballesteros' fame was never the same in the United States as it was in Europe. Including the three British Opens, he won just six other PGA TOUR events, topped by his victories in the 1980 and 1983 Masters.
"I'm not sure people back home appreciated how good this guy was," Cink said.
Ballesteros was poised to ruin Nicklaus' fairytale Masters' victory in 1986 when he led by one as he hit his second shot into the par-5 15th at Augusta. But Ballesteros hit a 4-iron fat into the water and eventually lost to Nicklaus by two shots.
Ballesteros recently admitted that moment is when his career seemed to permanently stall, even though he was 28. "I lose the finishing punch," Ballesteros recently told Golf Digest. Ballesteros said he lamented not being able to win a third Green Jacket for his father, Baldomero, who had died of lung cancer the month before.
Ballesteros stopped playing full-time in the mid-1990s and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1999. He attempted to make a couple of comebacks, but they didn't last because of recurring back issues. In late 2008, he collapsed at a Madrid airport and doctors discovered a brain tumor the size of two golf balls above his left temple. Three surgeries were required to remove the cancer and he has struggled with his health since.
Ballesteros has hoped to make an appearance at last year's British Open past champions' tournament at St. Andrews -- site of his memorable fist pump -- but was advised by doctors not to make the trip from Spain because he was too frail.
"Seve has been probably the most creative player who's ever played the game," Tiger Woods said. "I've never seen anyone who has had a better short game than him. He was a genius."
